ORLANDO, Fla. – If parking at the Orlando International Airport has been a headache for you, especially around the holidays, good news - MCO wants to add an automated parking system to its garages and surface lots.
Real information in real time: how many spots are available in a particular lot at a particular time and where those spots are located.
MCO’s website and app are useful for finding out which lots are open but they don’t show how open.
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The solution? An Automated Parking System. It’s already in use at garages at Disney Springs and Advent Health Orlando. A digital sign out front displays how many spots are available and on which floors. Inside the garages, red LED lights above a space indicate a spot is full; green indicates the spot is open. And digital signs inside the garage show how many spots are available on a higher floor.
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) board members voted to solicit proposals from contractors to install the automated system at MCO lots. GOAA slated $9.6 million for “software, hardware, installation, commissioning, warranty, and seven years of support and maintenance.”
The parking data – number of spots and where the spots are located – would then be transmitted to MCO’s app and website and even displayed on overhead roadway signs. That’s especially useful information during the airport’s busy times.
Over the Thanksgiving travel holiday, several lots filled to capacity.
Late last year, MCO added two new surface lots, increasing parking capacity by 2,000 spots since 2022.
And for travelers who want to make sure they get a spot and don’t mind paying more, they can now reserve parking through MCO’s website or app as long as they do so 24 hours in advance.
MCO said it understands parking is a priority and at a premium because “with the local population growing, more Central Florida residents are using the airport. Based on survey data, local residents make up 30% of airport passengers, a jump from 20% a decade ago. This increase has emphasized the need for more parking.”
MCO plans to award the automated parking system contract by June.
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